Supporting data for “Constructing Influencer Personae of Chinese Intellectuals on Social Media”

This dataset comprises the complete set of qualitative interview data collected for the PhD research project titled “Constructing Influencer Personae of Chinese Intellectuals on Social Media,” conducted at The University of Hong Kong.The dataset is structured into two comparative cohorts for analysis:Baseline Cohort: 14 non-academic social media influencers (SMIs) from diverse content verticals, including lifestyle, beauty, technology, and knowledge-sharing.Focal Cohort: 6 academic-turned social media influencers (Aca-influencers), including both established and early-career scholars. All participants were purposively sampled based on their established online presence (minimum ~50,000 followers) on major Chinese platforms such as Douyin, RedNote/Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Weibo.Date Content:This archive contains the anonymized verbatim transcripts of all 20 semi-structured interviews conducted between May 2023 and May 2025. The interviews looked at why people wanted to become influencers, focusing on both "push" and "pull" factors. They further addressed content-creation strategies and personal-branding practices, as well as participants’ perceptions of platform algorithms and governance structures. Additionally, participants shared their experiences related to monetization and collaborations with Multi-Channel Networks (MCNs).Note on Audio: The original audio recordings are not included in this public dataset due to confidentiality concerns, as the voices are direct personal identifiers. All analysis should be based on the provided transcripts.